Crime & Safety
Forks Finally Catches Suspect -- After a Year
Former Weis Markets employee suspected of slugging co-worker in Forks Township.
It took more than a year, but Forks Township police have caught up with a former Weis Markets employee suspected of slugging a fellow employee, apparently because he thought the employee squealed on him.
A criminal complaint says James Frankenfield Jr., 52, was shopping at the supermarket at Sullivan Trail and Uhler Road the night of Dec. 8, 2011 when he punched a store worker on the right side of his face.
The victim said Frankenfield “had been recently suspended” from the store and may have been mad at him because he thought the victim had reported him to the store manager.
The victim said he was sweeping the floor of the store’s beer café area when Frankenfield “quietly walked behind” him and delivered the punch, which was captured on surveillance video and also witnessed by another store employee.
Frankenfield ran from the store and entered an unknown green SUV, which left the area.
The complaint, filed by township Officer James Rovinski, does not say why Frankenfield was suspended.
Rovinski writes in the complaint he couldn’t find Frankenfield, despite getting addresses from a driver’s license number and Weis officials.
He also spoke to family members, from whom he learned that Frankenfield is “currently homeless.”
However, a bail form attached to the complaint lists an address of Mercer Street in Phillipsburg under what appears to be Frankenfield’s signature.
The complaint does not say how Rovinski finally tracked down the suspect.
Frankenfield was charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct. He was arraigned Thursday by District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township and released on $10,000 unsecured bail.